Luke Jones and Nestor talk Homer Hose and the next start of Grayson Rodriguez as Orioles season blooms in Baltimore.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
rodriguez, baseball, grayson, night, people, orioles, genteel, eddie murray, day, talking, game, mcdonald, ben, pitch, hit, mike, minor leagues, baltimore, runs, loved
SPEAKERS
Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
W n s t Towson, Baltimore and Baltimore positive we are positively into a great baseball season. We’re talking baseball in this segment. But before I do, I have to one last time let everybody know we’re coming to Bel Air Pappas world famous crabcakes. Now in Bel Air and shipping of course as all of our crabcake folks during the Maryland crabcake Tour presented by our friends at window nation and of course of the Maryland lottery. They got these new scratches. I’m not giving these away. I’m going to be giving these away at Pappas and Bel Air. We’re going to be there Thursday from two to five. Former Harford County Executive Barry Glassman is going to be coming by Tim who’s running the joints gonna be sitting in talking about credit. The place is packed all the time. And they’re making some room and then I put a shout out like did you get it good. Harford County gas and the best I could come up with is Mickey Coachella. So Mickey is going to be coming out doing his brand new comedy and my brand new comedy together all presented by the Maryland lottery and whether they should one guy that will not be with us because he’s going to be busy with said baseball team as the appointed representative of wn St. Baltimore positive. Luke Jones joins us now he is at Baltimore. Luke, He has been up late, but not too late when they start the games at 635 and they play rapido rapido. Luke, are you getting home in an hour in Shrewsbury Pennsylvania that you’ve not become accustomed to during midweek, weeknight games and I don’t want to pick on the traffic. I mean, the fact that there weren’t a lot of people there on 80 degree night business needs to pick up but price and Rodriguez right like this is I had lunch with Mike Elias. There’s pictures and witnesses on Monday. You know, but business is picking up and as much as there’s Lamar, Lamar Lamar, and that heats there and the obj thing is enormous. The Orioles are doing things on a daily basis including Ryan mountcastle. And can I sing to you too before I bring you on? I just want to send you every night there’s a different star. That’s the magic of Orioles baseball. Was that good luck? I feel like Kiko Garcia and 79
8
Luke Jones 02:10
That was good. That was good. Although I’d say Ryan mountcastle and I don’t even throw a nod to Austin Hays. They’ve kind of been the early stars more nights than not. I mean, certainly, I think Tuesday night. I mean, everyone expected the big story to be Grayson Rodriguez making his home debut. So much buzz for that. I’ll be at not a huge crowd, but the people that were there were very much juiced up about that. And lo and behold, Ryan mountcastle Does something that had only been done two other times in the history of the franchise. If to go back to Eddie Murray back in 1985. And Jim genteel back in 1961, that fantastic, underrated one of the great seasons in Oreos history, but got lost in the shuffle mantle Maris that summer, driving in nine runs in one game Ryan mountcastle Does that on Tuesday night and really steal the thunder of Grayson Rodriguez who did some good things but not a great start. We’ll get into that but you drive in nine runs in one game and you do some of the things that the Orioles have been doing at the plate. Certainly we can talk about the pitching needing to be better. The defense has been shaky early on but they’ve been hitting the ball and they’ve been stealing bases and they’ve been bottling water in the dugout you know that not not the not the Dong Bong but Homer hose. They’re officially calling it but it’s all adding up to Hey, they’re having fun and it’s it’s been a fun product and the other off to not a fantastic start but a solid start and it’s leading to entertaining television or if you’re in person entertaining baseball on a nightly basis and to your point the 635 starts although the first couple 635 starts have been three hour game so it hasn’t exactly. You have reaped the rewards too much, but it’s certainly been some fun at the ballpark. And again, Ryan mountcastle What can you say when you drive in nine runs and that grand slam that capped off the nine RBI night? Absolutely clobbered over the left field wall so they’re hitting the ball. Certainly we could talk about some of the other things they need to improve on but they’re certainly hitting the baseball especially at the top of that lineup.
Nestor Aparicio 04:20
All right, man. This is where I’m the old fart around here and I was sitting amongst other old farts out of the CEO club watching baseball and talking baseball with Mike Elias and TJ Brightman and bill we Dell from CFG bank I appreciate by the way, this is where a letter Rascon gets a free plug with his crab Malik azote letter brought us by the way this is not just a crab mallet Dude, this is a crab mallet with a beer open. This is bull this Eastside. So I appreciate that. Appreciate Linda Raskin his sponsorship and all he does for us, but Jim Genteel. This is my 32nd year of Baltimore sports radio. Despite what Chad Steeler or, you know, Greg Bader might think of that, but the As a historian here, and as a child of 33rd Street, my father loved Jim Genteel. My father loved Gus treon dos. My father loved Don Larson. So, you know, my dad, like I didn’t grow up in a place where my dad worshipped Brooks Robinson, my dad, like, you know, Jim Mutchler. You know what I mean? My dad liked Lenny more, but he loved their del Bracy. You know what I mean? Like so my dad was much more about Jim Dwyer than he was Eddie Murray. You know what I mean? Like, my dad loved the last guy on the bench, because I think that’s the kind of athlete he was, and sort of that scrap iron, you know, so Jim Genteel. My dad loved Jim Genteel. And when I went on a radio in the 90s. He was a guy that I think if you get the video in 91, the last day I think he was here, he was a guy that then came in a lot, right? And I believe he’s still alive. I’m wiki to feel like he is okay. Yeah, he called into the show, and did some radio with me. And every time he came on, he was, you know, diamond gym, you know what I mean? But more than that, he he was engaged in the game in the 90s when Camden Yards was happening, and you could call him and talk a little ball with him. Dick Hall was local here. You know, much like Palmer all these years later, still very engaged in baseball. He did the show with me. So here’s my dad’s favorite. So, you know, my dad had a Jim genteel baseball card. That’s how much my dad loved him Genteel. So, anytime he did, the show is kind of special for me. So when I hear a name pop up like that, and I’m thinking reaching for these esoteric, you know, nine RBI knights in the modern era. You know, it’s kind of a nod to oral history that there’s a lot of people that do remember and you know, Jim Palmer would bet McDonald, not so much on the broadcast. And maybe not the young guy who’s calling the games as well, which still not John Miller to me, and I’m trying to get used to the radio, the TV, all of that, and getting back into the vibe of whatever they’re trying to do. Good to see our old friend Rob long on the broadcast and even Scott Garceau the other night, but Jim genteel, I hear his name. I like that, you know, makes me think of my dad.
Luke Jones 07:02
No question. And as I mentioned, a nod to him that 1961 season, go back and look at the numbers. And in most years, he might have won MVP. I mean, that’s how great that season was, but the ball had to be juiced
Nestor Aparicio 07:14
8that year, right, man, man? Like, right.
Luke Jones 07:18
Expansion. Mean? Sure. I mean, you could certainly Yeah, but
Nestor Aparicio 07:22
you see one seasons kind of weird like to 68 pitching season with Louie T on salmon. There’s some years when you look at baseball. Well, I mean, anybody that we’re looking at Sammy Sosa’s numbers are like, yeah, they’re, you know, different. But yeah, Ark of baseball history. Right, you know.
Luke Jones 07:39
No question. But yeah, Jim Genteel. And in that game, he hit a grand slam and back to back eating. So I want to say it was the first in the second inning, he had grand slam. So Eddie Murray had a three home run game in 1985. That was out in Anaheim. So Ryan mountcastle doing what he did. And look, Oakland is terrible. I mean, they’re the only team in baseball that has a lower payroll than the Orioles but you look at that roster compared to the Orioles and you say okay, the Orioles have all these young players who look like they could be budding superstars or at least guys that are gonna be legitimate. Good major leaguers, Oakland, other than a couple guys, I mean, that cupboard is pretty bare. So you want to do what the Orioles did the demo on Tuesday night. So Ryan mountcastle doing what he did, like I said, just absolutely clobbered the Grand Slam. Longest home run but his hero of his career, I think it was right around 450 feet. So I mean, it was a fun night at the ballpark, you would have liked to have seen Grayson Rodriguez pitch a little bit better. If you watched it. It was one of those starts where there were a lot of good things, a lot of things to like, but he gave up six hits. All of those hits, Nestor came on either and oh to count, or one to count. And you know what that tells me? That tells me this is a guy who’s graduated from the minors and now it’s developing at the next level. We always think of these guys arriving in the minor from the minor leagues, especially top prospects. And you always have this idea that they’re a finished product and they’re not you know, they’re gonna continue to learn and develop at the major league level. So even though Grayson Rodriguez, you look at the final line, it wasn’t very good, although certainly Austin both coming in and relief made the line look worse. But I think it was a case of some of the things that he probably did in triple A and double A that he would have gotten away with and gotten strikeouts or we contact if you’re not as precise if you’re leaving balls over the plate in those oh two or one two counts at the major league level. Yes, even the Oakland A’s will make you pay at time. So I think that’s part of the learning experience for him. But as we talk about that in the big picture sense, certainly mountcastle and also Austin Hays hitting in the leadoff spot against a left handed starter. Boy they were fantastic at the plate and throw in a little Adley rutschman as well getting on base and Has it led to an Orioles 12 Eight victory as they continue to swing the bats Well, at the top of the lineup especially,
8Nestor Aparicio 10:08
you know you don’t accuse me of being a baseball nerd but I swear to God I am and that’s how this thing got built to be really honest with you. I need to reiterate that because in 1985 I remember the Eddie Murray night and it was monumental, right i i was working at the news American then so I mean, I remember summer nights answering the phone trying to make my way in the world and get get get a job. At six months later, I wound up a couple years later, I saw Eddie Murray I thought I saw him hit three home runs at the vet. And it was literally the day that I was named nasty Nester by her six kids. And it had to do with Todd fro Werth who later on became a friend of mine. And but Eddie only had to that day, I went up to the vet to see Eddie Murray play. It was in 1989 May 14 1989. People asked me what the day I got nicknamed nasty, nasty It was that day. It was a baseball bat that I made with Mike Rusik Liano legendary artists that I would babysit his kids if he could name the relief pitchers that came in out of the Phillies bullpen because I’d never heard of any of these guys, and they got laid off and the Dodgers won nine did nothing. The dot Dodgers beat the Phillies nine nothing. Orel Hershiser through a two hit shutout at the vet. And the lineup Willie Randolph was in that lineup. Mike Marshall Eddie Murray, Mike Sosa, John T. Bone Shelby, Jeff Hamilton, Dave Anderson. That’s the that’s the Dodgers lineup. But Eddie only hit two bombs that day. I thought he had three. Eddie had a lot of bombs. Do you know what I mean? So you remember when you I mean, you remember when Eddie got into one, right? So Luke Jones is here. He’s modern. He’s a little bit modern. I’m a little bit old fashioned. Even though I have the old hair. We’re talking some more real baseball here this week. And I guess more than anything for you to be at the ballpark and vibe it out. Not a lot of people Grayson Rodriguez there for that. went okay for a little while control issues. Certainly hope it’s better than this. And it’s been up in spring training. Right. I mean, I think there’s been a little bit of this question about him. I just hope wherever he is on May 15. It’s in a good spot for him and for the organization because, you know, there’s a lot of hope in him. People are coming down to see him. There’s a lot and I explained this to my wife that I reminded her of where I was then like Curt Schilling made his debut that I reminded her as I do, every time that John RAF Elise and I were in Ocean City cooking steaks and that’s cookout place on 45th Street that used to be Samantha’s when Ben McDonald walked in from the bullpen, and we were pissed that we were in Ocean City that they had they brought him in and we weren’t there to see it, that we were on vacation. So I remember bench calling the game. So like, I mean, there’s a real heritage as we’ve talked, genteel to Eddie Murray, to Ben McDonald. To what Grayson Rodriguez is, and he is the modern Ben McDonald. I mean, come on now.
Luke Jones 13:05
No question. I mean, I was thinking about I was even going through it for some writing at Baltimore. positive.com you kind of think about the Oreos over well even just look at the last 15 years, let alone going back further than that when you mentioned Ben McDonald, or like Messina making his debut against the White Sox. So I want to send that away.
Nestor Aparicio 13:21
I’m old enough to know the difference. Let me just say this Messina. Fine. He was gonna be a really good pitcher. People weren’t low on him, but he was it wasn’t what Ben was. And even when he came up, even I mean, I was with in the locker room, I’ve drank beer with those guys a lot together. I mean, and Ben was always the higher ceiling guy. Always, always always there was more expectation that the next year QID 122 in Messina would be 17 and 12. There was a feeling that that’s the way it was gonna be. So the fact that one went to the Hall of Fame and made $150 million and the other one didn’t, that still all these years later, I don’t say it weighs on Ben God, Ben’s one of my favorite people. But that xpect on BJ surhoff Right on anybody who’s that guy on I think watchmen right now on Matt Wieters write on all these guys.
Luke Jones 14:16
8I’ll give you another name that you didn’t even mention, Dylan Bundy. And I’m not talking about Dylan Bundy who arrived in 2016. I’m talking about Dylan Bundy when he was drafted in 2011. Talking about Him when He ascended through the Oreos minor leagues in 2012. I mean, this was a guy who I think baseball America or baseball prospectus had I mean, he was kind of a consensus top five or top 10 prospect across baseball, but I know one of those publications at one time had him as a number two prospect and all a baseball so we never saw that version of Dylan Bundy and the majors because by the time I’m not talking about the cup of coffee he had at the end of 2012 is what a 19 year old talking about when he finally arrived in 2016. mean, that was post Tommy John, that was post some shoulder issues. It wasn’t the same guy at that point in time. But to bring it back to the present day. Grace Rodriguez for the last couple years has been a consensus top 10 prospect. He’s been regarded by many as the best right handed pitching prospect in baseball over the last two years. So this is more hype than having Gasman, more hype than go back to the famed cavalry where it was Madison, Tillman and Ariadna like, I mean, Grayson Rodriguez is highly more highly regarded than any of those guys. So you have to go back to Bundy and then certainly going back to what you mentioned, Mike Mussina and Ben McDonald. You know, Ben McDonald, one of the all time pitching prospects in terms of how he was viewed so, uh, but I think it Tuesday night was a reminder of that jump from even triple A to the majors is substantial. And the one thing I will say, and this is where it’s going to get interesting, because Kyle Bradish is going to make a minor league rehab start for buoy later on this week, he’s close to coming back the foots fine. So the Orioles are going to have a decision on their hands. What I’ve seen from Grayson Rodriguez, even though again, you look at the final line doesn’t look great. I don’t see anything and how he pitched that tells me it’s going to benefit him and what the issues that he has to figure out just as a young pitcher who’s learning and continuing to develop, those aren’t issues I’m seeing that are going to be beneficial at triple weigh as much as going out and doing it against major league hitters. I mean, it’s just that simple. He’s missing bats, you know, the stuff is there. I mean, his fastball was 96 and nine through 98. Most, you know, just about the entire night. You see the potential with the changeup that he didn’t throw a lot early, but started introducing that in about the third or fourth inning. You know, the slider was up a little bit, you know that that was a pitch that times he didn’t have great command of but no, he’s missing bats. And you see an aptitude for it. But it’s just a matter of, again, when you’re oh two or one, two in the minor leagues, those guys, you know, they’re done against someone with the stuff that he has, they’re done, they don’t have a shot. And that’s why you saw him striking out 13 Guys in five innings at triple A Norfolk on the regular last year before he got hurt. But, and he talked about this. And what was impressive to me, it was Grayson Rodriguez talked about this, so he had an awareness of what he needed to do better. It wasn’t just, oh, I got unlucky on some Oh, two and one, two pitches, he flat out said, yeah, there are some pitches where I need to either not be in the strike zone quite as much when I’m ahead there and make them chase and trust my stuff and just try to blow a guy away. Or you know, and maybe not nibble as much or maybe need to be a little more, you know, a little finer than I was so you know, again, guys graduate from the minors. They’re not a perfect finished product, they continue to develop at the major league level. And this is where I will say I want to see him continue to pitch in the Major League rotation does that mean he’s gonna be the best starter immediately.
Nestor Aparicio 18:10
You don’t want to get killed when your head down. You don’t want to get killed when you’re heading to count, right? Sure, like being behind in the council problem when you’re walking guys, right? And I mean, you can get away with that with defense and double play balls. And I mean, they have the kind of pitchers that are gonna throw sinkers that they’re gonna they’re gonna be able to get away with some things the veteran guys especially, but for him figuring this out at the major league level. Maybe not even against the A’s but against the Yankees where they got six guys in the middle of the lineup that’ll kill you. Same thing with the Astros right? Let me when he’s going to pitch against these better teams with bigger bats. And he’ll be doing that in this division i i used to say all the time, but it’s not that way anymore. So he’s not going to have to run into the Blue Jays when they were the Blue Jays, you know, with the INCRA naciones and sort of that middle of the lineup thing, but at least in the early going here, that he’s managing some level of expectation that he can be outside the zone where the strike zone is in the big leagues, what he’s going to be able to get away with, he’s only going to figure that out here, right? I mean, to your point. There’s nothing to figure out when you’re five innings into 13 strikeouts at that point. You’re You’re still the most dominant. You’re the best kid in the game. That’s what you’re not right. And part of that is everybody feels that. Go back and look at Ben McDonald coming out. Nope, all these guys. All of these guys all I don’t know anybody. Maybe Robin Yount. I remember came up and was just Fred Glenn. You know, guys that come up and are just crazy and never heard from again. And it’s all it’s a straight, clear path to the Hall of Fame. But it wasn’t that for Greg Maddux either or any of these got Curt Schilling I’ve got my God took him years to figure it out and he had stuff but you know, I even thought like just for a minute we were talking a great pitchers and stuff like a guy like Strasburg, right who had All of that weighed on him in the modern era and came out and sort of in the end delivered, right? I mean, that you want that path for this kid. You don’t want. That’s why so where’s he going to be? May 15? I hope it’s not a seven era. I mean, that’s all and that he’s going out there and making it four innings every night.
Luke Jones 20:21
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I totally agree with you there. I mean, if he’s getting shellacked, if he’s getting hit hard, if he’s behind in counts constantly, then yeah, I think it’s a different story, because this is a team that has designs of being in the playoff race and being a wildcard and making the playoffs so so you know, there has to be some managing of expectations to get results, but at the same time, look at the rest of the rotation right now. You know, Dean Cramer, not off to a good start, you know, Bradish got hurt. Cole Irvin has not been very good. I mean, really, it’s been Kyle Gibson, who has been very good for them. And as advertised, as far as what they were hoping to get from a 35 year old veteran. And Tyler Wells has been, you know, was was excellent in that emergency relief, long relief role after Bradish got hurt, not quite as good as against the Yankees over the weekend. But the reality is, this rotation is not filled with guys that are fully established, you have a couple of vets in Ervin and in Kyle Gibson, and after that, have a bunch of guys that you know what they were, they were Grayson Rodriguez, only a year ago, right? They were guys that were still kind of establishing themselves in the major leagues. But here’s the difference. Grayson Rodriguez has so much more upside and potential than any of those other individuals. And that’s why, based on what I saw on Tuesday night, again, I’m not going to sit here and say it was an outing to be happy about, he wasn’t happy about it. But I think if you look at it, look beyond the box score, and saw how it played out. I don’t see that as something and saying, Oh, he needs to go back to the minor leagues and work on this, this and this to me, it was, you know, Grayson Rodriguez did and I’m gonna use a very simplistic example here, he’s mastered shooting a basketball at a nine foot rim, it’s time to go up to a 10 foot. Well, you know what, you’re going to have some adjustments, and you’re not going to be perfect at it right away. But the solution isn’t to go back and shoot again at a nine foot rim. Right. So I think it really is a case of what I saw. And again, if he gets knocked around and his neck start, maybe we’re having a different conversation.
Nestor Aparicio 22:25
Five days health aside, I mean, if he gets blasted out of the first inning or something, they’re they’re probably gonna do something. And it’s not going to be the old days or put them in a bullpen. I mean, they don’t it will be. He’s got it. He’s got to go start somewhere else and work it out. And it’s probably in his head at that point. And that’s the thing that concerns me the most is that injury, bad spring up anyway. Now he’s here. Now he can only go backwards, right? It can only be a failure, unless he can figure it out and succeed and succeeding with a four year reign going out there and making it five innings for the next three months. That’s not going to be good enough, either. Right? So that’s what I’m saying. Except wasn’t good enough. That McDonough was perfectly good. Right? I mean, he went out with the ball game a chance to win most nights never really got shellac, but he was never pragmatics he was never seen him, right. And Rodriguez has this thing, this expectation, and here he is, and I just man ever. I’m the voice of reason and all this and saying cruel it out. But he is going to get the ball every fifth day. And I do crossing my fingers hopefully go hope it goes well, it has to go well for the organization to go well, it’s it’s that important, right to your point, none of the rest of these guys are the Savior.
8Luke Jones 23:50
None of the rest of these guys have that number one potential, you know, and three at number one, let’s just even say a guy that would be heralded as a number two starting pitcher for the best teams out there. So again, you don’t have a rotation filled with former Hall stars, or guys that are tenure veterans or anything like that you have a couple guys who’ve been around and then the rest of these guys are not terribly different than Grayson Rodriguez. So again, based on what I saw Tuesday night, based on what he needed to do better, I don’t think those are things where that’s going to benefit him to go back down to triple A and try to do that. I think he needs to face major league hitters. And I think you’ll see him get better and I think you’ll see him eventually Excel because I think he’s got that kind of makeup and he has that kind of talents. So it’s a matter of having to balance, a little bit of patience, but also understanding Yeah, he has to get results and I think he understands that as much as anybody.
Nestor Aparicio 24:43
So here’s the thing about the about the bong Dong Homer thing i i had a clip and I’m gonna put this on the radio for anybody that doesn’t follow me on social media because I’m clever that if they started doing this for great defensive place guys goes over the fence. You know, Cedric Mullins, getting there and he gets a chance cuz he doesn’t, you know, some of these guys don’t hit as many home runs. They don’t really get the chance to read from it. But they’re great fielders. I mean, that’s the shortstops. Great, right? That so if you don’t get to do it that way, a great defensive play, would it be a funnel of glove? No, you don’t like that? I’d see. I knew you weren’t gonna like that joke. Look, let me just say this is your as your mother, okay with the funnel. I mean, like if she is because like your mother’s of the age, she might have gone to Preakness back in the day knowing like drinking beer out of this is not a new concept. So all you old farts my age, pretending that didn’t happen on Kane street or at the Heritage fair, or at the Preakness, or at the beach, because it did or at the beach house, or senior week or anything else. But it is the hydration part of it. And it’s clever, and I like it more than the pies and I’m just gonna say that. That’s all. It’s fun.
Luke Jones 25:51
And look, I understand some of the concerns. I mean, and if the Orioles took it to the next step and started shotgunning cans of Gatorade or something like okay, then you know, maybe maybe we’d need to have a cup of Marilyn chick with the beer. Exactly, exactly. So, so and I’ll also say this, I would not be shocked and I don’t know this. This is just this was my initial reaction when I first saw it Monday night. And look, I laughed for 10 minutes straight in the press box. It was one of the funniest things I’ve seen. I mean, my goodness, you know, sense of
Nestor Aparicio 26:20
8humor about all that, you know, you’re like Dumb and Dumber, you got that sense of humor.
Luke Jones 26:24
mountcastle even got down on his knees. It just reminded me of a college frat boy, wonderfully good beer. But I wouldn’t be shocked if someone up the chain as far as the powers that be whether it’s with the Orioles or major league baseball eventually puts an end to it. I think they’re trying to, you know, calling it the Homer hose rather than the Dong Bong, I think is it’s kind of like your buddy who is trying to cover you know, you’re going out to a party as a high school senior or something like that. And it’s your buddy that’s trying to smooth it over with your parents. Right? Hey, you know, this is a it’s a birthday gathering. You know, there’s gonna be cake and cookies and punch, you know, alcohol
Nestor Aparicio 27:07
in the afternoon on April 20. It wasn’t really.
Luke Jones 27:10
Exactly. Exactly so. So in Australia, and look, I think there is a fine line that you want to be careful but at the same time, these guys are having some fun it they’re drinking water there. It’s not like you know, it’s not like it’s a
8Nestor Aparicio 27:26
famously drank beer, by the way, Westmore all but did the beer on the head. Did you see that? I did. Yeah. I mean, like, so like, shotgunning a beer and the football players doing and like all that. It’s water. I you know, I mean, get a sponsor for it. Yeah. You know, I mean, I don’t know what to say. I mean, I and these are young guys. And I go, Listen, there’s never a point where like, I ran into Mike Elias, they’ve denied my press credentials this week. I want to say that because people always ask me do you apply? Yes, we apply and I get denied. And I don’t brag about it on the radio show or the internet but, but I’d like to know these guys. And they seem like Adley rutschman Seems like a good enough guy. I’ll say this, Mike Elias, I was in a room with him for three hours the other day. And I even text you I’m like, it was impressive. He seemed like a decent fellow. So fair enough. But meanwhile, the owner is a creep. And I’ll go on with that. Because I mean, the owner has been a creep out in front of everybody. So you can judge it for wherever you are, you know, Dan Connolly, the son line, all of it, right all, there’s no lease all of that, right. But for the players and for the organization. And for the Dong Bong, the funnel of glove or the Homer hose, whatever you want to call it. I believe they’re gonna pitch well this year. And I think we’re, it’s a good thing, they cut the pitch clock into this, because these would have been the four and a half hour, they’re gonna play some 14 That’s gonna play some softball games here, because this team can hit and they move the fence back now. And even if it doesn’t go over the fence, they’ll hit it in front of the fence and run around the bases and drive in runs. And they’re going to challenge pitchers on this to pitch pitch thing that you’re the shift I, I didn’t get a chance to have a follow up in like alias because I think they thought I was going to hijack him. And I did ask my question in front of everyone. And it really had to do with building something from scratch that he had hit many times he alluded to the fact that how torched earth it was, and I wanted to know how appealing that was to him that this thing got built from nothing and all all that they did, but my follow up to him on all of this just would have been about the type of people because he went on about how much he liked the people in the organization. I’m like, you pick them. And we were in a room of CEOs. You pick these people, you went out and scouted all these people. And you saw not just Adly rushman being a one on one, but you saw leadership in him. And there were things you saw in these people that might fit them together in a good way. And I see these kids hanging out drinking beer are together walking the city together during the rain out taking pictures with fans on my Facebook, whatever stout and was involved, you know, like, and there was a real concern in the room about stout and they get said like we like he’s one of ours you know bring it back out you know the whole deal that there is a little bit of a camaraderie building here that I feel that I don’t want to say I didn’t align with Adam Jones and the pie in the face and all of that in that era and how I’m personally treated is offensive to me, he always has been and that’s how I walked out on the begin with because I wasn’t gonna peddle their their bullshit in their lives 20 years ago, but this group it’s fun. There’s nobody there. I mean, it feels like you’re early on the train if you get on there’s plenty of seats. You know this is it’s like the baby like Tony Kornheiser was bandwagon. There’s room for people to get on. Now recruit me, make me make my wife want to come down to the game make my wife asked me who Ben McDonald is what she did the other night. You know, I mean, and I told her stories about Ben. Yeah, rad penny to take me out for Tokyo to Benihana for some Tokyo love back in 1994 in Toronto, but I like those guys. I still like Chris soils. Mike bordick and I are doing several charity events together. I like those people. And I know what it’s like to like Jack Voight to still be a friend of Brad Pennington all these years later to really like these people. And I I feel like you’re in there. I like these guys. They seem like good guys.
Luke Jones 31:26
They are they are and I want to piggyback on something you just mentioned. I mean, look, Grayson Rodriguez this was the biggest debut of an Orioles pitching prospect in a long time. Keep in mind, Bundy never really had the, you know, he never really had the true debut because he was in the bullpen because of circumstances of how his career had gone. Gasman made his first couple starts on the road before he debuted at Camden Yards in 2013. So you’ve really got to go back and kind of think about that. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 31:55
let me say this, too, that Jimmy Haynes is in the Rocky carpenters and those guys, they all came up in a rotation with Kim Messina. And like that when those guys came up, they weren’t the Savior. They were like a really nice pitcher. But hey, Ben McDonald’s into rotation. So you know, Buck up, you know what I mean? You’re another guy here because we’ve got a $10 million arm and Sutcliffe’s got a pal. So like the there was always that, you know, there’s a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot a lot riding on this kid. And I enter your point, if you want to keep up with the Yankees you want to keep up with this has to pan out.
Luke Jones 32:30
8It does. But the point, the point I was trying to make, though was it was only 12,000 people there. And look, it’s Oakland, April Tuesday night. I mean, you’re delusional if you think there’s gonna be a sellout. So let’s be very clear about that. However, it does speak to as rabid as the fan base that paying attention is right now, and I think it is I think you have a lot of people who are really excited. But that is still a small base from which you’re dealing right now, when you see only 12,000 people there for Grayson Rodriguez, when they announced Saturday morning that they were given away his T shirt for His church on Tuesday for that
Nestor Aparicio 33:10
night months ago, they did a really it was 10 bucks to get in kind of night. If you bought a ticket on there, you know what I mean? And it was 80 degrees, there were a lot of reasons to go down there.
Luke Jones 33:23
In the right center bleachers, that was the one part of the ballpark, it wasn’t filled, it wasn’t packed, but it was filled up very nicely rest of the park not so much. The point I’m trying to make is not to pick on them as much as to just state the obvious that they still have a long way to go in that department. And this seems fun. They’re hitting homeruns there, I think they’ll play good defense, even though they haven’t so far this year, I’m basing that off of last year, the pitching is gonna be a question, especially, you know, I have my concerns about the middle relief big time right now. But it’s a fun product, you know, as far as how they’re playing young guys, celebrations, hey, don’t forget the home run chain, that is not their celebration anymore. But you go look at the seating bowl, kids are wearing those. So again, think about some of these things, you know, and I’m not saying you’re gonna see kids fuddling soda for from the from the stands, but, you know, there’s a lot about this team to like, but they still have a ways to go. And that’s where, you know, you look at the attendance and today, they still have a ways to go because on a night like Tuesday night with Grayson Rodriguez, that kind of a pitching prospect get like to think he could get 20,000 people there, you know, and that not talking about fill in the ballpark there 20,000 That’s not a high bar, but it feels like a high bar still. And it does speak to they still have a ways to go and a lot of damage has been done, that they’re still recovering from quite frankly, and it’s where they need to keep working hard from a business standpoint and selling tickets, and they certainly need these guys to continue to play well and do the things that we stole Ryan mountcastle We’ll do on Tuesday night, tying an Oreo record with nine RBIs
Nestor Aparicio 35:03
it’d be time to write TJ Brightman and John Angelo’s Little Love Letter while you know before Draft Day. Luke Jones is here he writes a love letter to the Orioles and the Ravens every single day. And sometimes it’s it’s tough love because we’re journalists around here and we’d like to ask the questions about are we allowed to ask questions about Odell Beckham Jr. Let’s let’s make it as Chad if that’s okay next week when that all happens here but Odell Beckham Jr. is in the fall we talk a lot of football around here but when the baseball team makes magic, we we follow that as well. Looks following all that magic and some of the tragic out of the castle by the way. It’s still on fire they have a quarterback that they don’t have under full contract who hasn’t shined the sheet and like all that’s going on. We got a draft coming up in two weeks. Plenty happening follow Luke follow wn st any breaking news happens first on the WNS D tech service all brought to you by our friends at Coons, Baltimore for dentistry. You’re on Thursday, from three until five driving home and again on Sunday morning as well. I will be at Pappas and Bellaire on Thursday, setting up new crabcake tours 27th We’re going to be at a new location we’re going to be captain Larry’s downtown and Federal Hill and then we’re going back to fate these on the 28th because we couldn’t get there this week and lining up things but the crabcake tour is alive and well. It’s all presented by our friends at the Maryland lottery. They got new Frogger scratch off so they gave me these to give away I was more of a Pac Man a guy myself but this is a fun game my wife likes this one and go play and play responsibly is wait to tell everybody and I don’t really understand all the baseball betting thing I’m gonna have to ask Luke about what plus 380 means against the parlay. I lost but I’m learning it’s like a horse racing form. I got any club Florio around here we are wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore. And we never stop talking Baltimore positive
